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iPad App Issue Delays 'a Few Dozen' American Airlines Flights
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One reason they are using the iPads is to get rid of the weight and bulk of those "maps". These are the maps that are generated prior a particular flight and valid only for that flight. They are torn away, after the flight. The Airways try to economise on this amount/procedure. (But also other flight manuals, etc.) are loaded to the same iPads.
So indeed,where these iPads are used they don't carry the hard copy maps onboard.
But what I couldn't really understand is actually exactly when these iPads went black. If the appropriate data (i.e. the flight map type of data valid for the flight to begin...) had been already loaded on-line to the iPad (while the aircraft is still at gate....), nothing should go wrong after that moment.
So far, there's no solid evidence that this glitch is purely due to Apple's hardware and/or software and as far as I could follow, AA hasn't yet accused Apple but they are pointing their fingers to the software company.
As an iOS app developer I can tell you that is extremely unlikely. The likelihood that iOS or the iPad hardware caused this issue is quite small. 99% chance it's a software bug.
They DO have them. And don't call me Shirley.
Hah, I wondered if anyone would notice that. Didn't realize it until after I typed it out but decided to leave it. Gotta love really outdated references.
Over 100 years of flying without an iPad now we can't fly without one...
It's an FAA rule. The pilots can't depart without a current version of the required manuals, maps, and approach documentation.
Pilots can fly the plane without the iPad. They may have to divert the flight under some circumstances, but it won't affect flight safety.
There are paper backups for at least some of the documents. But, the instrument approach documentation in particular is a huge amount of paper, and it has to be updated frequently. There's a separate approach "plate" for every runway that has an instrument approach, and many runways have multiple approaches, using different navigation aids. Without the approach plates, they would go to an alternate airport that doesn't require an instrument approach.
Others have already posted that the airline has announced that it was a problem with the iPad app. I suspect that the app decided it had to do an update, and when the WiFi network wasn't available it locked up.
But, when not doing an update, the app has no reliance on a network connection. And although many planes have in-flight WiFi, it is turned off while on the ground.
The iPads replace the paper manuals that the FAA requires pilots to carry, regardless of the level of technology in the cockpit.
And, airplanes don't "land themselves". The auto-land functionality requires pilots to monitor the approach second-by-second -- cross checking the instruments and confirming proper position at key points onthe approach plate. Anything higher than Category I (a standard precision instrument approach using ILS) requires planes and crews with special certification, at a handful of airports that have the necessary navigation equipment on the ground.
Until someone has as IFE (In Flight Emergency) and the iPads crap out and the pilots have no flight manual emergency section III to refer to. Lose an airplane because of it and hard copies will be back in the cockpit again.
Yes! Flightgate.Ahhh! I missed an "scandal". There wasn't one for long time.
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I suppose when you cut the WiFi connection while an app is silently updating itself automatically in the background, you end up without a functioning app. Though Apple could add a safety element that when rebooting the iPad in such a situation it returns the previous version of the app.
And here is a story about Jeppeson, the app developer, taking responsibility for the issue and rolling out an update:
Link to story
Still, I doubt that will be enough to calm down those who still think it's an Apple problem. The frothing will no doubt continue...
Link to story
Still, I doubt that will be enough to calm down those who still think it's an Apple problem. The frothing will no doubt continue...
So wait, you mean it's not 8.3 or Apple or some propritatery software but the oldest name is the aviation business's app that caused this.
A lot of "experts" on this thread have some words to eat
Should be the case, but we know that's not going to happen. There's no froth worthy value ragging on a mere app developer - only on Apple...
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It's all good. I read your post and I decided to wait before I responded, because I figured other people would point out the sarcasm first.
It doesn't matter how long you've been on the internet, it can be hard to determine someone's intent based on text alone.
uh is it just me or does anyone else think it's a bad idea to be relying solely on an iPad to get navigational data? but then again airplanes are all electronic now as well, so i guess we're just at the mercy of technology I guess.
Different things. The navigational data used by the planes system are not on the iPad and were intact. The navigational data (ie charts/maps) that are used by the pilots were affected.
Someone posted on a pilot forum (pprune.org) about that issue: The Jepp TC Pro app would automatically close when trying to launch. The problem was traced down to only users that had a specific airport saved in their "Favorites". The fix was to reset the iPad to an earlier date, launch Jepp TC Pro, and then delete the offending location from "Favorites". Charts for that location were pushed to all pilots using another application until a fix is found. The iPads operate normally after this interim process is followed.
US airlines were pretty slow to switch to electronic solutions, most european airlines have gone mostly paperless around 15 years ago, albeit back then on windows based systems. Some of them are switching to iPads now or have switched in the last few years, but quite a few do not use Jeppesen software for different reasons, there are other chart suppliers out there.
i love it when i am right it looks like it was the app not the iPad they loaded the app with duplicate maps of the same airport causing it to crash